


Sleep Well

by spookyghostcurves



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Friendship/Love, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 03:24:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7417723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookyghostcurves/pseuds/spookyghostcurves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Much to Pidge's surprise and delight, Keith is a sleep-talker. [Alternate fic to "Rest Easy"]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleep Well

**Author's Note:**

> I had an anon request an alternative to my fic "Rest Easy" where Pidge is the one who finds Keith asleep in the castle. I hope you enjoy! Requests are open at voltronpoint.tumblr.com !

When Pidge couldn’t sleep, they turned into quite the busy body. And as of late, restful nights were few and far between. It was good news for their ship at least. They installed upgrades throughout the Castle of Lions, all while the rest of Team Voltron was asleep. What were a few drowsy mornings and difficult-to-power-through afternoons if it meant that they got to see the look on their teammates’ faces when their favorite parts of the castle were amped up to their liking?

Keith was next up on her list, Hunk and Shiro having already gotten their surprises in the form of a food processor pieced together out of sterilized ship parts and a diagnostics chip that Shiro could plug into his arm. Lance was en route to getting a sound proofing system for his bedroom, but that was more or less Pidge’s gift to themself. Listening to Lance attempt to sing at every odd hour of the day was starting to drive Pidge wild. For Keith they were still throwing ideas around. When they thought about it, they realized that he was the teammate they knew the least. It was difficult to get a read on him. He had a tendency to go quiet whenever Pidge spoke to him, which could only mean one thing in Pidge’s mind. 

Keith didn’t like them very much. 

What else could explain the pointed way he avoided eye contact with Pidge whenever possible, the way he seemed to fight twice as hard whenever Pidge was in the training room with him, or how anxious he looked when Pidge was around? Pidge wasn’t even sure why they cared so much – it’s not like Keith’s opinion of them actually mattered. And it definitely wasn’t telling, how they so easily took note of Keith’s adverse behavior and when it started. 

No, Pidge didn’t care what Keith thought in the slightest. 

As they walked through the ship’s quiet corridors to get to the training arena, Pidge mulled over the few interactions they had with Keith before he started to act all weird. To their knowledge they didn’t do anything, said no cross word that could be recalled. Whatever Keith’s reason, hopefully his surprise would win him back over. Once Pidge figured out what it was going to be, that is. 

When they came to the training center, they were surprised to see the light still on. A quick look inside was all it took to find a very worn-out red paladin curled up on a pile of sparring mats, his back to Pidge altogether. 

At first glance, it was suspicious. 

Who in their right mind could fall asleep in the training room? It didn’t make any sense. But then again, Keith was one who liked to push his limits. Pidge approached slowly, walking around to the mat’s other side to get a look at Keith’s face. He was indeed asleep, not faking at all, and he was drenched in sweat. Pidge couldn’t fathom pushing that hard, working out until they were ready to collapse from exhaustion. 

“Keith,” they called, reaching down to give his shoulder a shake. “Keith? Hello?” 

Still fast asleep, Keith gave an irritated groan and rolled over, the sudden move making Pidge flinch. They watched him go still again before climbing up onto the mat and crawling over to him to shake him again. “Keith! Come on, you need to get to bed. “ 

“No,” he groaned, jerking his shoulder away and holding an arm over his eyes. 

“Sheesh, you’re like a grade schooler. Come on! Get up!” Pidge insisted, giving Keith’s back a smack to accentuate each syllable. 

“I don’t wanna,” Keith muttered, eyes still shut. 

In a weird way, this was kinda cute. Keith was either exhausted to the point of delusion, or he was talking in his sleep. Either way Pidge was seeing a new side of their stoic co-pilot, which they were thoroughly enjoying.

“Aww. And why don’t you wanna go to bed?”

“’Cuz I’m comfy here.”

“But if you’re comfy here, won’t you be even more comfy in your bed?” Pidge cooed, laying on the full “I’m talking to an actual baby” charm. 

Keith was silent for a moment before blearily sitting up and getting to his feet. Was this considered sleepwalking? He had to be at least semi-coherent, if he’d been responding to Pidge’s questions. Yet as they watched him lumber over to the door and run smack into the frame, they decided that he just wasn’t coherent enough. 

“No, no, no, wait!” Pidge piped, hurrying over to his side and taking one of his arms. “Here I’ll walk you, just come with me okay?” He gave a little nod and they started the (thankfully) short trip to his room. 

To call Keith a zombie would have been an understatement. His eyes were open, but only slightly, and he yawned at least once every five steps. As they walked, Pidge was reminded of their own sleepy walks back to bed once they were too big for their parents to carry. The memories had them look up at Keith, wondering if he’d ever been put to bed like that when he fell asleep on the couch. Did he even have a couch? 

When they got to Keith’s room, Pidge slowly guided him into bed. They tugged off his shoes and forewent the sheets, since his skin was still hot to the touch. They brushed some still-damp hair out of his face and smiled down at him. Now that he was in bed where he belonged, Keith looked much more peaceful. 

For the second time that night, Pidge admitted that Keith looked kinda cute.   
Without any warning, Keith’s hand lifted up to grasp at air for a moment before it found Pidge’s cheek. Pidge felt a bit of heat at the tips of their ears, but didn’t say anything. “Thanks, Pidge,” he slurred, giving a nice face rub before he rolled over, “You’re the best.” 

Pidge stared in mild disbelief for a few moments, watching as Keith’s breathing fell steady and he made the transition into deep slumber. They’d deny up and down the red tint in their cheeks and the insistence, in their head, that they earn more appreciative, sleepy face rubs from Keith. But as they made their way back to the training room, their fingertips lingered against that cheek. 

_____________________

The next evening was business as usual for Keith. After a half-hearted attempt to lay in bed and go to sleep, he made his way to the battle simulator to try and tire himself out. Bayard in hand, he stood at the center of the room.

“Begin training level one,” he recited, readying himself to fight. 

But nothing happened. 

It put him more on guard – after all, the last time the ship didn’t heed his command, they’d almost gone flying into the sun. 

“Begin training level one,” he said again, firmly. 

“I apologize, but it is past curfew. Please return at 0800 hours,” a robotic voice announced. 

“What?!” he snapped, glaring up at the bodiless voice. 

The sound of a throat being cleared drew his attention to the main entrance, where Pidge stood rubbing at their arm, a nervous little smile on their lips. Keith clammed up immediately, slinking into an attempt at a casual pose that was obviously forced.

“Pidge, hey! Do you know what’s up with the simulator?”

“Yeah,” the admitted, stepping inside. “I programmed a curfew into it. I found you in here last night and—“

“Wait, wait,” Keith interrupted, “Did you walk back to my room with me?” He had a vague recollection of Pidge walking him arm-in-arm back to bed, but he’d had dreams a bit too similar to that to believe it really happened. 

Pidge nodded, a coy grin coming to their lips. “Did you know you talk in your sleep?”

If there was a vacu-lock anywhere nearby, Keith would have launched himself into the void of space. Again. 

“I’m kidding,” Pidge dismissed, amending quickly, “Well, I’m not kidding about you sleep-talking, that’s true. But you didn’t say anything too weird. I promise.

“Anyway, I found you in here last night and you seemed really beat. It’s not healthy to do that to yourself every night. I, um…” They fiddled with the hem of their sleeves, “I have trouble getting to sleep most nights too. So I was thinking we could kill time together – y’know, till we nod off.”

Imagining spending any amount of time alone with Pidge left Keith with a weird, tight feeling in his chest. “Really?” he asked, trying not to seem too eager. 

“Sure,” Pidge nodded, heading back towards the door and giving him a look over their shoulder. “I’d like that a lot actually.”

_____________________

When the paladins made their way to breakfast the next morning, the sight of Keith and Pidge asleep on the couch greeted them. Pidge’s head rested on Keith’s chest, while his arms were wrapped tightly around them to keep them close. 

“Should we wake them up?” Hunk whispered to a grinning Lance. “Of course not, I need to take a picture,” Lance snickered, turning to get his camera from his room when he ran smack into Shiro. “Don’t,” he said in his mildly-scolding tone that was for Lance exclusively. “Let them rest a little longer. They need it.”

With that, the pair was left to sleep on for the rest of the morning, feeling comfort and safety in each other’s arms.


End file.
